Cameron Scerbo

If you have been on social media recently, you probably have experienced it. “Brain rot” is the term used to describe the mental effects of excessive internet use, especially exposure to low-effort, repetitive, and flashy content. But what is brain rot really, and where did it come from?

While the real beginnings of brain rot are up to interpretation, the most likely start to the culture was in 2012 with shows like Annoying Orange and the troll face meme. These memes created the idea that Loud = Funny, which is a common trope throughout the modern forms of brain rot. Some say these jokes were just memes and not brain rot, which is understandable. Looking back now, they are just seen as cringeworthy and did not age very well. 

In 2014, there was further development. The creation of MLG videos became highly popular during this time, featuring hyper-edited videos and displaying a continuity of the Loud = Funny trope. Vine also emerged during this time, developing a new sense of humor where being quirky and random was funny. It’s during this time that we see the real building blocks of modern brain rot being laid. 

2017-2019 was when things really started to ramp up. Kids were gaining access to the internet at younger and younger ages, and the game Fortnite became crazy popular among the younger generation. This created the perfect breeding ground for low-effort, repetitive memes. Kids started copying dances from Fortnite and consuming content about Fortnite on sites like YouTube and Twitch. This is very important because it gives rise to an important aspect of brain rot, which is the effect that content creators have on brain rot culture. Creators like Ninja, Tfue unknowingly created a new language that became extremely popular in brain rot culture (more on this later).

2020 was the beginning of the end. To start off the year, Among Us became extremely popular, creating a whole new genre of brain rot. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic. Following this announcement, schools started locking down, and everything went online. This was perfect for brain rot. Everyone being hunkered down in their homes, spending all day on a screen, created the best environment for brain rot to thrive. 

One of the more infamous and influential forms of modern brain rot started when Yasin Cengiz, a Turkish TikToker, became popular for his viral belly-bouncing dance to the song “Dom Dom Yes Yes” by Biser King. This trend ended up popularizing the term skibbity, which then spiraled out of control, leading to the creation of skibbity toilet. 

One other major brain rot meme was the quandale dingle meme, which was based on a funny name spotted on a Windows login. It evolved into absurdist videos with distorted images, text-to-speech narration, and fictional crime stories. 

This era is when people started to take notice of the brain rot epidemic. Posts of older siblings showing their younger brothers and sisters buried in their iPad or spouting random brain rot skibitty nonsense became common on social media. Still, things only got worse

Around this time, certain content creators started to gain popularity extremely quickly. IShowSpeed, Jinxy, Fanum, Kai Cenat, and others created or popularized new brain rot terms like Gyat, Fanum tax, “barking,” “Chat,” and W Rizz. In fact, “Rizz” was crowned Oxford Word of the Year in 2023. 

Some other brain rot phrases and trends include: Looksmaxing, mewing, and mogging (related to self-improvement and physical appearance). Grimace shake, Quandale Dingle, and Gyat (Viral meme concepts with absurdist humor), and the low taper fade meme, which is still massively popular today.

What is the impact of this brain rot culture?

Modern content is deliberately designed to be addictive. Fast-paced editing, quick dopamine hits, and bizarre humor contribute to shortened attention spans. This phenomenon is evident in the rise of “subway surfers” edits, where unrelated video clips play alongside the main content to keep viewers engaged.

Studies have shown that binge-watching content and excessive social media use activate dopamine secretion, reinforcing addictive behaviors. Parents, teachers, and medical professionals have raised concerns about the effects of prolonged screen time on cognitive function. A study by Dove Press involving 1,051 young adults (ages 18-27) found a direct correlation between high social media usage and poor executive function. Higher screen time was linked to difficulties in planning, problem-solving, decision-making, and memory retention.

Further research supports these concerns. A study of 7,097 mothers and children found that children with high screen time exhibited developmental problems. Specifically, kids who spent more than four hours a day on screens showed significant delays in communication and problem-solving skills by the age of two. Additionally, some studies indicate that people who are chronically online may have reduced grey matter in the brain, potentially impacting cognitive abilities.

Brain rot has evolved from silly memes to an all-encompassing internet culture that affects how we think, laugh, and even communicate. Brain rot is a new problem, and its effects are just starting to show. It’s clear that the way we consume content today has lasting effects on our minds, and it’s something we should all consider as we scroll into the future.